Press Release of Kythera Citizens“ Movement ”Dynamo"

The following is a press release from the Kythira Citizens“ Movement ”Dynamo”:

THE SPECIAL ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY (SES) FOR KYTHIRA IS NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT!!!

For the past few days, the project “Preparation of Special Environmental Studies, Drafting of Presidential Decrees on Protection and Management Plans for the Natura 2000 Network Areas—EPM 7a: Natura 2000 Sites of the Regional Unit of Attica,’ to which Kythira and Antikythira also administratively belong.

We encourage everyone to visit the ministry's website by September 28, 2023 https://ypen.gov.gr/diavouleusi, to stay informed and participate in this very important process for the future of the region.*

Our country was found in violation on December 12,2020 by the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to establish, in substance, the legal framework upon which all measures for the protection of nature and biodiversity can be based. Essentially, over the years, it has allowed economic interests to take precedence, permitting the construction of industrial wind farms across the entire length and breadth of the country.**

Following the recent ruling and as public outcry over the haphazard siting of energy projects, in particular, across the country continues to grow, Special Environmental Studies are moving forward, and Kythira is now being assessed as well!

According to the study, the geographical location of Kythira, in southwestern Greece, at the southernmost tip of the Balkan Peninsula, constitutes a very important «migratory bottleneck» in the central-eastern Mediterranean for millions of birds undertaking their annual migration, during the spring months from their wintering grounds on the African continent to Eurasia, and vice versa during the fall. On Kythira, 35 species of birds of prey—out of the 45 species recorded in total across Europe—have been documented during the two migration periods.

The study under public consultation fully vindicates our position. Energy production from industrial wind farms should be banned on the island, as it is completely incompatible with its environmental value and poses a very serious threat to the protected area. The European Union has two EQUALLY IMPORTANT objectives: on the one hand, the protection of biodiversity, and on the other, the mitigation of climate change. This is also reflected in the Special Environmental Study currently under consultation, which emphatically highlights the island’s importance in terms of biodiversity.

For nearly four years now, the Kythira Citizens’ Movement has been striving and working along three main lines of action against industrial wind farms. We are waging a SOCIAL STRUGGLE aimed at providing the island’s residents with well-documented information and raising their awareness, A LEGAL STRUGGLE at every level permitted by the Greek justice system; and finally, the energy community’s COUNTERPROPOSAL was proposed and implemented. This stands in opposition to all those voices that prioritize market forces and the profits of large corporations over people’s lives and the environment in which they live.

*The public consultation is being conducted by the EPM consultant, is hosted on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and will run through September 28, 2023. This will be followed by the preparation of Management Plans for the protected areas, accompanied by the corresponding Presidential Decrees.

**Specifically, for at least a decade now, the Greek government has failed to issue Presidential Decrees (PDs) specifying the Conservation Objectives (COs) for Habitats and Birds, in accordance with the two corresponding European Directives as transposed into Greek law, which constitute the Natura 2000 network of protected areas.

*** The steps to follow, in brief, are as follows:

‐ Preparation of Special Environmental Studies (SES) for each area of the network.
‐ Their approval FOLLOWING PUBLIC CONSULTATION and the establishment of Conservation Objectives (CO) by Presidential Decrees (PD), and based on these, Conservation Measures and management plans for the protected sites.
‐ Any project or activity that may affect an area that is part of the Natura 2000 network or is to be included in it is subject to an Appropriate Assessment (EA) of its environmental impacts through a Special Ecological Assessment (SEA).